Archive for year: 2008

Dear Colleagues:

As a result of the efforts of Dra. Ana María Aboglio and Regina Rheda, the blog essays are now available in Spanish and Portuguese.

Please also remember that our video presentations, Theory of Animal Rights, Animals as Property, Animal Rights vs. Animal Welfare, and Animal Law,, as well as our vegan-abolitionist pamphlet are all available in Spanish and Portuguese (as well as other languages).

Thanks to Ana María and Regina.

Gary L. Francione
© 2008 Gary L. Francione

The New York Times Magazine (October 26, 2008) has a lengthy article on California’s Proposition 2. I will blog more about this article, which is disturbing on multiple levels.

But I could not let a moment more pass without commenting on a statement attributed to HSUS president Wayne Pacelle: “For people who want a vegan revolution–that’s too passive for me.”

Creative, nonviolent vegan education is anything but “passive.” It is the most effective way of decreasing demand for animal products. It is the most effective way of effecting a cultural shift from the notion that animals are things that we can exploit as long as we do so “humanely” to beings who are members of the moral community with a right not to be brought into existence and killed just because we enjoy the taste of their flesh and the products that we derive from their suffering.

It is nothing short of remarkable that Pacelle would support as not “passive” a ballot proposition that won’t come into effect until 2015, is riddled with exceptions, and will only make consumers feel better about continuing to support animal exploitation.

It is nothing short of remarkable that a man who controls an organization that has reported revenues of $124,000,000 and assets of $223,000,000 would complain about grassroots vegan education as “passive.” Imagine what could be done for nonhuman animals if a significant portion of those resources were devoted to a creative, progressive vegan campaign. The fact that Wayne envisions Proposition 2 as the strategy to undertake bespeaks a complete failure of imagination at the least.

The New York Times article says that Pacelle became a vegan when he was 19. I would imagine that what caused Wayne to become a vegan was a shift in the way that he looked at nonhuman animals. Perhaps others should be given the chance to change their perceptions rather than being told falsely that they can do something meaningful by supporting efforts like Proposition 2.

Gary L. Francione
© 2008 Gary L. Francione

Dear Colleagues:

Earlier today, Anna and I went to Whole Foods. We detest shopping there but we have no choice; our local health food stores have largely disappeared in the wake of chains like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. On Sundays, there is an outdoor market in the Whole Foods parking lot. Local vendors sell fruits, vegetables, baked goods—and animal flesh and products. One vendor had decorated her “organic meat” stall with pictures of her “free-range” chickens, pigs, and cows. We stopped to look at the pictures. I pointed out to her that there were no pictures of the slaughtering process.

“Oh, well we slaughter our chickens on the premises and our cows and pigs go to a slaughter facility that is only six miles away. They don’t stay overnight and we try to make it as stress free as possible.”

Another shopper had appeared and said, “I feel so much better about buying my meat from farms like this.”

The vendor remarked, “Oh, yes, these animals are our dear friends.”

I responded, politely but seriously: “That’s an odd thing to say; I hope that you don’t treat your other ‘dear friends’ this way.”

The vendor laughed. She thought I was joking.

“These animals are our dear friends.” Think about that. Think about what terrible confusion such a statement reveals.

This is where the happy meat/animal products movement is leading us.

This is where the PETA–KFC controlled-atmosphere killing campaign is taking us.

This is where efforts like Proposition 2 are taking us.

We are moving backward.

Go vegan. It’s the baseline of the abolitionist movement and is nonviolence in action.

Gary L. Francione
© 2008 Gary L. Francione

Dear Colleagues:

About.com has published a pro/con on California’s Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, known as “Proposition 2.”

I oppose Proposition 2. The Humane Society of the United States is its primary supporter and the About.com piece defending Proposition 2 is written by Paul Shapiro, Senior Director, HSUS Factory Farming Campaign. The essays are brief in that we were limited to 500 words each.

As those of you who listened to the interview I did on Go Vegan Radio (July 26) know, I suggested to host Bob Linden that he invite HSUS President and CEO Wayne Pacelle to debate the HSUS campaign in favor of Proposition 2 and other welfarist campaigns promoted by HSUS. Bob has informed me that he invited Wayne but that Wayne declined. I am sorry about that as I think that such exchanges are an excellent way for animal advocates to learn about these issues.

Gary L. Francione
© 2008 Gary L. Francione

Animal welfare advocates are terribly excited over a recent decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court. According to a press release from The Humane Society of the United States and Farm Sanctuary, two of the petitioners in the case:

The New Jersey Supreme Court today struck down the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s regulations exempting all routine husbandry practices as “humane” and ordered the agency to readdress many of the state-mandated standards for the treatment of farm animals.

In this monumental case, the Court ruled that factory farming practices cannot be considered humane simply because they are widely used, setting a legal precedent for further actions to end the most egregious abuses on factory farms throughout the U.S. The Court also rejected the practice of tail-docking cattle, and the manner in which the NJDA had provided for farm animals to be mutilated without anesthesia.

“This is a major victory for farm animals in New Jersey, and will pave the way for better protections of farm animals nationwide,” said Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary. “Setting a legal precedent in a unanimous vote that clarifies that commonly used practices cannot be considered humane simply because they are widely used will build on our momentum in challenging the cruel status quo on factory farms.”

In addition to striking down the agency’s sweeping exemption for “routine husbandry practices,” the Court further held that tail docking could not be considered humane, and the manner in which mutilations without anesthesia including castration, de-beaking and de-toeing could not be considered humane without some specific requirements to prevent pain and suffering. The Court made clear that the decision to permit these practices as long as they are done by a “knowledgeable person” and in a way to “minimize pain” could not “pass muster.”

“This decision will protect thousands of animals in New Jersey, and also calls into question some of the worst factory farm abuses practiced throughout the country,” said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president of animal protection litigation for The Humane Society of the United States. “All animals deserve humane treatment, including animals raised for food.”

Unfortunately, this excitement is not warranted. When one reads the actual opinion, one gets a very different picture.

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